The Second Developer Preview of Android 16

Posted by Matthew McCullough – VP of Product Administration, Android Developer

The second developer preview of Android 16 is now accessible to check along with your apps. This construct consists of adjustments designed to reinforce the app expertise, enhance battery life, and enhance efficiency whereas minimizing incompatibilities, and your suggestions is essential in serving to us perceive the total influence of this work.

System triggered profiling

ProfilingManager was added in Android 15, giving apps the flexibility to request profiling knowledge assortment utilizing Perfetto on public gadgets within the subject. To assist seize difficult hint eventualities similar to startups or ANRs, ProfilingManager now consists of System Triggered Profiling. Apps can use ProfilingManager#addProfilingTriggers() to register curiosity in receiving details about these flows. Flows coated on this launch embrace onFullyDrawn for exercise primarily based chilly begins, and ANRs.

val anrTrigger = ProfilingTrigger.Builder(
                ProfilingTrigger.TRIGGER_TYPE_ANR
            )
                .setRateLimitingPeriodHours(1)
                .construct()

val startupTrigger: ProfilingTrigger =  //...

mProfilingManager.addProfilingTriggers(listOf(anrTrigger, startupTrigger))

Begin element in ApplicationStartInfo

ApplicationStartInfo was added in Android 15, permitting an app to see causes for course of begin, begin kind, begin instances, throttling, and different helpful diagnostic knowledge. Android 16 provides getStartComponent() to differentiate what element kind triggered the beginning, which will be useful for optimizing the startup circulate of your app.

Richer Haptics

Android has uncovered restricted management over the haptic actuator since its inception.

Android 11 added help for extra advanced haptic results that extra superior actuators can help via VibrationEffect.Compositions of device-defined semantic primitives.

Android 16 provides haptic APIs that allow apps outline the amplitude and frequency curves of a haptic impact whereas abstracting away variations between machine capabilities.

Higher job introspection

Android 16 introduces JobScheduler#getPendingJobReasons(int jobId) which might return a number of the explanation why a job is pending, as a result of each specific constraints set by the developer and implicit constraints set by the system.

We’re additionally introducing JobScheduler#getPendingJobReasonsHistory(int jobId), which returns an inventory of the latest constraint adjustments.

The API might help you debug why your jobs might not be executing, particularly if you happen to’re seeing lowered success charges with sure duties or latency points with job completion as nicely. This will additionally higher allow you to perceive if sure jobs should not finishing as a result of system outlined constraints versus explicitly set constraints.

Adaptive refresh price

Adaptive refresh price (ARR), launched in Android 15, allows the show refresh price on supported {hardware} to adapt to the content material body price utilizing discrete VSync steps. This reduces energy consumption whereas eliminating the necessity for doubtlessly jank-inducing mode-switching.

Android 16 DP2 introduces hasArrSupport() and getSuggestedFrameRate(int) whereas restoring getSupportedRefreshRates() to make it simpler in your apps to reap the benefits of ARR.

RecyclerView 1.4 internally helps ARR when it’s settling from a fling or clean scroll, and we’re persevering with our work so as to add ARR help into extra Jetpack libraries. This body price article covers lots of the APIs you need to use to set the body price in order that your app can immediately leverage ARR.

Job execution optimizations

Beginning in Android 16, we’re adjusting common and expedited job execution runtime quota primarily based on the next components:

• Which app standby bucket the appliance is in; energetic standby buckets will likely be given a beneficiant runtime quota.
• Jobs began whereas the app is seen to the person and continues after the app turns into invisible will adhere to the job runtime quota.
• Jobs which might be executing concurrently with a foreground service will adhere to the job runtime quota. If you might want to carry out an information switch that will take a very long time think about using a person initiated knowledge switch.

Notice: To grasp the way to additional debug and check the conduct change, learn extra about JobScheduler quota optimizations.

Totally deprecating JobInfo#setImportantWhileForeground

The JobInfo.Builder#setImportantWhileForeground(boolean) technique signifies the significance of a job whereas the scheduling app is within the foreground or when briefly exempted from background restrictions.

This technique has been deprecated since Android 12 (API 31). Beginning in Android 16, it can not operate successfully and calling this technique will likely be ignored.

This elimination of performance additionally applies to JobInfo#isImportantWhileForeground(). Beginning in Android 16, if the strategy is known as, the strategy will return false.

Deprecated Disruptive Accessibility Bulletins

Android 16 DP2 deprecates accessibility bulletins, characterised by means of announceForAccessibility or the dispatch of TYPE_ANNOUNCEMENT AccessibilityEvents. They’ll create inconsistent person experiences for customers of TalkBack and Android’s display screen reader, and options higher serve a broader vary of person wants throughout quite a lot of Android’s assistive applied sciences.

Examples of options:

The deprecated announceForAccessibility API consists of extra element on steered options.

Cloud search in picture picker

The picture picker supplies a protected, built-in approach for customers to grant your app entry to chose photos and movies from each native and cloud storage, as a substitute of their whole media library. Utilizing a mixture of Modular System Elements via Google System Updates and Google Play companies, it is supported again to Android 4.4 (API stage 19). Integration requires just some strains of code with the related Android Jetpack library.

The developer preview consists of new APIs to allow looking from the cloud media supplier for the Android picture picker. Search performance within the picture picker is coming quickly.

Ranging with enhanced safety

Android 16 provides help for strong security measures in WiFi location on supported gadgets with WiFi 6’s 802.11az, permitting apps to mix the upper accuracy, higher scalability, and dynamic scheduling of the protocol with safety enhancements together with AES-256-based encryption and safety in opposition to MITM assaults. This enables it for use extra safely in proximity use instances, similar to unlocking a laptop computer or a automobile door. 802.11az is built-in with the Wi-Fi 6 normal, leveraging its infrastructure and capabilities for wider adoption and simpler deployment.

Well being Join updates

Well being Join within the developer preview provides ACTIVITY_INTENSITY, a brand new datatype outlined in keeping with World Well being Group tips round reasonable and vigorous exercise. Every document requires the beginning time, the top time and whether or not the exercise depth is reasonable or vigorous.

Well being Join additionally comprises up to date APIs supporting well being information. This enables apps to learn and write medical information in FHIR format with specific person consent. This API is at the moment in an early entry program. Join if you would like to be a part of our early entry program.

Predictive again additions

Android 16 provides new APIs that will help you allow predictive again system animations in gesture navigation such because the back-to-home animation. Registering the onBackInvokedCallback with the brand new PRIORITY_SYSTEM_NAVIGATION_OBSERVER permits your app to obtain the common onBackInvoked name at any time when the system handles a again navigation with out impacting the conventional again navigation circulate.

Android 16 moreover provides the finishAndRemoveTaskCallback() and moveTaskToBackCallback(). By registering these callbacks with the OnBackInvokedDispatcher, the system can set off particular behaviors and play corresponding ahead-of-time animations when the again gesture is invoked.

This preview is for the subsequent main launch of Android with a deliberate launch in Q2 of 2025 and we plan to have one other launch with new developer APIs in This autumn. The Q2 main launch would be the solely launch in 2025 to incorporate deliberate conduct adjustments that might have an effect on apps. The This autumn minor launch will decide up function updates, optimizations, and bug fixes; it is not going to embrace any app-impacting conduct adjustments.

We’ll proceed to have quarterly Android releases. The Q1 and Q3 updates in-between the API releases will present incremental updates to assist guarantee steady high quality. We’re actively working with our machine companions to convey the Q2 launch to as many gadgets as potential.

There’s no change to the goal API stage necessities and the related dates for apps in Google Play; our plans are for one annual requirement annually, and that will likely be tied to the main API stage.

The right way to prepare

Along with performing compatibility testing on the subsequent main launch, just be sure you’re compiling your apps in opposition to the brand new SDK, and use the compatibility framework to allow targetSdkVersion-gated conduct adjustments as they develop into accessible for early testing.

App compatibility

The Android 16 Preview program runs from November 2024 till the ultimate public launch subsequent 12 months. At key growth milestones, we’ll ship updates in your growth and testing environments. Every replace consists of SDK instruments, system photos, emulators, API reference, and API diffs. We’ll spotlight essential APIs as they’re prepared to check within the preview program in blogs and on the Android 16 developer web site.

We’re focusing on Late Q1 of 2025 for our Platform Stability milestone. At this milestone, we’ll ship last SDK/NDK APIs and in addition last inside APIs and app-facing system behaviors. We’re anticipating to succeed in Platform Stability in March 2025, and from that point you’ll have a number of months earlier than the official launch to do your last testing. Study extra within the launch timeline particulars.

Get began with Android 16

You may get began at this time with Developer Preview 2 by flashing a system picture and updating the instruments. If you’re at the moment on Developer Preview 1, you’ll robotically get an over-the-air replace to Developer Preview 2. We’re on the lookout for your suggestions so please report points and submit function requests on the suggestions web page. The sooner we get your suggestions, the extra we will embrace within the last launch.

For the most effective growth expertise with Android 16, we suggest that you simply use the most recent preview of the Android Studio Ladybug function drop. When you’re arrange, listed below are a few of the issues it’s best to do:

• Compile in opposition to the brand new SDK, check in CI environments, and report any points in our tracker on the suggestions web page.
• Check your present app for compatibility, study whether or not your app is affected by adjustments in Android 16, and set up your app onto a tool or emulator operating Android 16 and extensively check it.

We’ll replace the preview system photos and SDK commonly all through the Android 16 launch cycle. This preview launch is for builders solely and never meant for day by day client use. We’re making it accessible by guide obtain. When you’ve manually put in a preview construct, you’ll robotically get future updates over-the-air for all later previews and Betas.

If you happen to’ve already put in Android 15 QPR Beta 2 and want to flash Android 16 Developer Preview 2, you are able to do so with out first having to wipe your machine.

As we attain our Beta releases, we’ll be inviting customers to strive Android 16 as nicely, and we’ll open up enrollment for Android 16 within the Android Beta program at the moment.

For full data, go to the Android 16 developer web site.